Got some new bits for the bike last week. A new computer - Sigma 1606l DTS with wireless cadence, rack + panniers and some clear lenses specs for cycling in the dark.

Today was the first day I got to play with two of the three. I rode to Elwood this morning to check out the BRW triathlon that I plan to compete in next year. Went Blackburn -> FTG Road -> Princes Hwy -> Neerim Rd -> Bambra Rd -> North Rd -> bike track along beach to Elwood. About 15kms and a nice ride early in the morning.

Met up with some friends there and had a look around, had breaky and headed home - total trip a tad over 30km. Avg Cadence was 76
Avg Speed was 17.8
Top speed was 55.07

We did a bit of slow riding around the event which will have dropped the averages slightly.

Also when I was setting up the new computer I noticed the old one had the wheel circumference set up wrong! so everything was out by about 10%. I took that into account when plugging in the new odometer reading in the new computer, so the total reading is about right now. (236km)

Still it was a fun ride, and I can't wait to get the bike racks so I can get the Mrs down to the beach for rides along the bike tracks there - it was magic riding along the tracks towards the city this morning.

Just a hint, when setting up your wheel circ on a new computer:
1) Pump tires up to your preferd pressure.
2) Have someone to help and get them to mark the concrete where the valve stem is.
3) WHILE SITTING ON THE BIKE roll the bike forward until the wheel has made 1 full revolution.
4) Measure this distance and use this as your wheel circ.

Most people don't do this but it is the most acurate way of configuring your computer to your bike. You might even be amased at the difference in the measurment. Mine was out by 16cm!

mikesbytes wrote:Pugsly, you did 30k !!!!! mate you are really progessing.

Thanks Mike. I would have done more but the day was warming up and the heat really saps me - and I didn't want to over do it. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually looking forward to the cooler weather for riding.

mikesbytes wrote:Pugsly, you did 30k !!!!! mate you are really progessing.

Thanks Mike. I would have done more but the day was warming up and the heat really saps me - and I didn't want to over do it. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm actually looking forward to the cooler weather for riding.

Good to hear you are being sensible. As your fitness improves and your weight drops, you will do better in the heat. When you first started, did you recon you could do 30k ?

TriggerFish wrote:That's pretty high. You turning into an athlete or something?

I wish. My heartrate seems to be unnaturally high as a rule - which I don't know if it's a problem or not. It will easily peak 180-185 up hills and I've seen it hit 200+ more than once on the squash court. Resting HR is about 80. When I cool down it comes down to 120 quickly enough, then tends to hover around 100 for a while. I haven't timed how long for it to get from 100 back to 80. MaxHR according to the generally accepted formula for me is 190, but I know that varies from person to person.

Might be an innacuracy (sp?) in the HRM too. Mine throws some bodgy readings every now and then, but, is generally reliable if somewhat eccentric as a rule.

I would have thought maintaining those high rates for any length of time would be burning the wrong stuff. From what I understand, happy to be corrected by someone, is that maintaining a heart rate that high will induce the onset of lactic acid relatively quickly. Lactic acid of course burns muscle for fuel once initial stores of available energy are used up.

If you maintain a lower heart rate (I tend to aim at 120-140 closer to 140 as a rule) for extended periods, you are less likely to burn as much muscle, but, delve into those stores of body fat that we all have, to generate the neccesary fuel for your excercise. This is what I was taught and of course individual heart rates etc can vary.

Any of the people who seem to have good knowledge on this sort of stuff around here got info on this that might help us out?

TriggerFish wrote:Might be an innacuracy (sp?) in the HRM too. Mine throws some bodgy readings every now and then, but, is generally reliable if somewhat eccentric as a rule.

I would have thought maintaining those high rates for any length of time would be burning the wrong stuff. From what I understand, happy to be corrected by someone, is that maintaining a heart rate that high will induce the onset of lactic acid relatively quickly. Lactic acid of course burns muscle for fuel once initial stores of available energy are used up.

If you maintain a lower heart rate (I tend to aim at 120-140 closer to 140 as a rule) for extended periods, you are less likely to burn as much muscle, but, delve into those stores of body fat that we all have, to generate the neccesary fuel for your excercise. This is what I was taught and of course individual heart rates etc can vary.

Any of the people who seem to have good knowledge on this sort of stuff around here got info on this that might help us out?

My thoughts gelled with yours Trig, until I read his high max HR. He may be trying too hard, but I don't think he's into the anaerobic range (based on the numbers which, as we all know, is open to argument).

Forget the forumula - according to that, my max is 170 and I work well beyond that ... mind you, my apparent death might explain some of my posts.

In the absence of a genuine, laboratory stress test, the max HR observed when really trying hard then pushing a bit harder, isn't going to be far wrong and is certainly your second best method of working out your max (the best being the stress test).

Richard

call it reaction, call it laziness, call it whateveryoulike, but today, I'm stuffing about and on enough glasses of red to force me to consider riding a metric century Yeah, yeah, I know. Excuse me while I pop another Mintie into me mouth

I'm sorry but this "Fat Burning" thing always annoys me. You burn Glyicrum [can never spell that word] thats stored with your muscles and then that Glyicrum is replenished from other sources, if you are dumb it comes from that sugar laden "recovery drink" that you were stupid enough to drink, but if you restrict the bodys feeding, it will break down some fat to replenish the Glyicrum.

Squash is a fairly intense form of exercise. I've seen 200 come up more than once, and I feel I could probably push past that a little more, except for the belief that my heart is probably going faster than it should. On the basis if I assume my HRmax as being around 210.

When riding, and glancing down at the HRM from time to time on the flat, scooting along without pushing too hard, my HRM sits around 150-160. As I've said previously it peaks around 180 when pushing hard. So it would seem, based on what we've discussed, that I'm mostly operating in Aerobic, with pips into anaerobic when pushing hard.

I've tested my HRM for accuracy (on the treadmill) and it seems on the money.

I'd talk to my GP about it, but she's no cardiologist, and would refer to the 220-age rule. I'm not sure how best to get a good medical opinion on what a safe and healthy HR is for me.

The general consensus is that you are pre-programmed with a max heart rate. This decreases with age. Both of these effects are different for different people so you need to know how they fit with YOU. You can work up to your max HR without drama. You can work at your max HR but it'll hurt. You're unlikely to kill yourself pushing yourself up there (yes, it still worries me but I can't get my doctor to agree).

Personally, I like to leave a bit of leeway, but there aren't any sheep stations hanging off the races I don't intend to enter.

As you get fitter though, those heart rate bands start to make a bit more sense and you become able to keep your HR within a particular range, to surge and recover. I think that's your first aim - to be able to control your HR (by controlling your effort and by using your gears), and to be able to surge up to a level, then recover quickly. Once you reach that point, you can be more technical about your training.

Mike, regarding your comments about 'fat burning' - might it be that the fat burning advice refers to people carrying a lot more excess than you have in recent times? I can understand why it'd be nonsense for you, be questionable for any rather fit person, but for us still trying to get within a few shirt sizes of a 'fit' body, maybe the concept does have a place.

My point is that you don't burn fat when you exercise, fat is a secondary store that is used to replenish the primary store when no other source is available.

As we all know max heart rate is the maximum that your heart can put out. Finding out what that is, shouldn't be done lightly, you are putting yourself under a lot of stress to do it. And as we all know 220 - age is a guide.

Pugsly, thats an excellent idea to visit the doctor about your heart rate.

MichaelB wrote:Question on the cadence meter thingo - does it show a readout so you know what you are doing, or does it just keep track of what you have done for the ride as an average ?

Cheers

Michael B

Most cadence meters tell you what you're doing, then average it out. I have the Polar CS200 which is one of the 'better' ones (ie, it cost a bloody heap). The cadence meter lags a touch, which is fun until you get used to it, after which it's fun because you glance at it and predict what it should be reading then see what you actually are doing The average is interesting. I've heard it said that they count the revs and divide by the length of the ride, hence they take into account your coasting time. I believe this is true, but I can't say for certain but can tell you that my average cadence is always less than I regularly observed.

Fun things. They really are. But it's more fun pushing your fixie around a track, checking the max speed and then working backwards to realise you did half a lap spinning at 155 rpm I couldn't believe it either, let alone my poor legs

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